The Harbingers
by BlazeTrigger21
Summary: Coswell was a new player who had lost everything. Ryuto was a young beater who was never meant to live long. These two gamers, meeting only by chance, will bring those like them together, those who envision the end of Sword Art Online, and entwine their destinies with a certain Black Swordsman. OC-centered. Kirito/Asuna. May add other pairings later.
1. Prologue

_Please_, I heard her struggle to say. _Please don't…don't give up. Get everyone out of this game._

A dream. Was that all this was? No, the nightmares before this were too real for this to be a dream. I could still see the glimpses of my dreams even when I was awake. I could still see them, my friends disappearing in front of me, their bodies being turned into bright pixels as they scattered from existence. I still heard the screams of pain as their life drained from their bodies. What scared me most though was the silence. The silence that came as she accepted her fate, but begged me to follow mine, the last thing she would ever order me to do. That horrified me, more than any blood-curdling scream, knowing they were gone from this world, they all were. All except for me.

Then what was this? What have the past two years been to me? Trapped in a game whose creator wanted us to win or literally die trying. The allies that I've made, the battles I've fought and won, the hardships I've suffered. Everything leading me to this one moment, but what was it? Not a dream, more like… a premonition made true. And I was the one who foresaw it. A harbinger of death and despair for this world's creatures. That was what the world saw me as, what I made myself to be, what I wanted _him_ to see me as. But the true monster, the one that I wanted dead, was standing in front of me. No more than 16 years old, was he. But that didn't excuse him for his sin. Our sin. I wanted only one thing at the moment, and the two scythes in my hand were helping me realize that goal.

The sound of metal clanging rang in my ears. Flashes of ebony and jade danced with crimson, trading blows faster than either of us could register. Reason and planning never came to my mind, only my next move as I dodged his attacks. He was more experienced, but in skill, we were now equal. One though raced through my mind as we dueled: this was the moment I fought so hard for. My purpose for two years was staring back at me with focused black orbs. His left blade came to my shoulder. I dodged into the path of his black sword, blocked by the handle of my scythe, glowing a deep crimson as I pushed it back. He stumbled back into his stance and I saw an opening. I charged forward and swung my weapons towards at his neck, being stopped in my tracks by both his blades holding back the handle, taking all of his strength to stop it. My scythe stopped a half-inch from his neck.

He was sweating hard. We both were.

He brought our blades up with a burst of strength, spinning quickly to deliver a combo of slashes towards my exposed torso. I stepped back, but it wasn't fast enough as I saw the blades cleave through me, my HP bar drop to the yellow. Instinct took over for a moment as I desperately swung my weapon towards his head. His head was still there, but I gained my edge. His cheek was bleeding. His health was dropping slightly as a term appeared below his health bar. Bleeding. I felt a quick surge of strength as I slid back into stance from the exchange. I went back on the offensive as I brought my scythes to their mark. Left side, blocked. Right shoulder, blocked. Right leg, cut. Left arm, blocked. Stomach, cut. Bleeding. Right pectoral, cut. Neck, cut. Bleeding. With every slash, I felt my strength grow as I continued the onslaught, my enemy grunting in pain with every slash. He gritted his teeth and brought his blades to meet mine, both clashing against each other as we stared each other down. Large black eyes met blood-red as he growled at me. He was sick of playing defense. I noticed his HP bar would occasionally go back up by a small amount as it slowly drained. A grin grew on my face as I saw his health draining more than his Battle Healing skill could recover. Victory was within my grasp.

The game didn't register torn clothes, as his prized black coat was still in pristine condition. But I didn't care. I got what I wanted. He pushed forward with his blades and quickly swung them at my chest, missing by a hair as I swiftly dodged and parried each strike coming from all directions. Two blades came up for a downward strike, and I saw my chance for a final blow. I tried to step back, but unable to do so. I felt a pain on my toes as I tried to backtrack. I glanced down and saw his foot stomping mine, keeping me in my current place. His swords came down at me as I brought my scythes together into one and raised the handle in defense. It wasn't enough as I felt the weapon ring from the impact, knocking it out of my hands. I was running out of options as I brought my fists up close to my face for a new stance. He swung his jade sword at my shoulder, only to be barely blocked by my raised arm, covered in a black bracer. His blade was quickly pushed back by me as I quickly jabbed at him, my fist glowing a bright crimson as the attack came towards his shoulder. He weaved away from the strike and I felt the grip of his foot on mine weakening, prompting me to deliver an uppercut with my right arm. He reeled back, his chin taking the blow hard as he tried to gain his stance again. I managed to grab my scythe before I was met by a roundhouse kick that quickly pushed me away from him. As the smoke cleared, we were back where we started, the bangs of my red hair obstructing my view of him ever so slightly. But the sight before me was unmistakable. His health was getting dangerously close to red, as was mine. His face was riddled with cuts that were starting to heal; the blood seeping through his clothes was starting to fade, replaced by the sweat pouring from his forehead.

He was panting. We both were.

I breathed hard as I tightened my grip on my scythes. He did the same with his swords as he looked back at me with pained eyes. I wanted to stop, to just stop and go back to before all this began. To go back and joke around with my friends, to hold her in my arms again, to be able to laugh like the world couldn't hurt me. But there was no going back to that. Kayaba took that from me. _H_e took _her _from me. And the me who was here before was gone. Only one thing mattered at that moment, and he was standing right there.

"You took everything from me." I groaned out as I steadied myself. "They're all dead! And you're next!" I brought my scythes together into one as I charged forward, pure hatred burning in my eyes. "KIRITO!"

The pain in his eyes quickly turned to something else as he charged back at me, swords at the ready. Both of our strength came back as we came closer to our final moves. I knew only one thing before it all went black.

He was angry. We both were.

_Fin_.

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Hello everyone. BlazeTrigger21 here. Well, this is my attempt to get back into fanfiction and I am pleased to announce a new Sword Art Online Fanfic is in the works, the Harbingers. For those of you wondering, this is just the prologue. A little teaser to give you a taste of what's to come. The story is focused on the OCs that I have created but will bring the characters from the series that you all know and love such as Kirito, Asuna, Klein, and the rest of the cast as essential parts as the story progresses. I haven't written much fanfiction in quite a while, so I apologize in advance if it isn't the most polished work out there and welcome feedback on this prologue if there's any noticeable problems. Feedback is encouraged, especially on the characters and plot, but no flaming about how this is an OC story. If there are any questions concerning the OC character in the prologue, I will answer them without revealing much, because where's the fun in that, haha. Here's to a successful story and for those of you who who wish to see my other works, please check out my profile, which I will update. With that,

Until next time,  
BlazeTrigger21

Author's Note: I do not own Sword Art Online. No copyright infringement whatsoever. I only own my OC characters written for this story.


	2. Welcome to Sword Art Online

Hello there fellow anime fans, BlazeTrigger here. Well, this is the start of the story for those of you who read the prologue. I apologize for the late submission, but I hope the chapter is worth the wait. The first chapter will introduce the character in the prologue and just set him up. I tried to research as much as I could about the area and where the main character would be most likely to live in accordance with the light novel's canon as well as the actual boot-up process for the NerveGear so I hope I explained that well enough, though I'll be taking some bits from the anime and some from the novel, depending on which I like more. Fight scenes probably won't happen until next chapter since I'm still trying to get the main character's style down, so look forward to that. As usual, please review, let me know what I'm doing right, doing wrong, and what just doesn't work. Don't flame the story because this is an OC-centered story. If something doesn't work, send a review and I'll see what the problem is. So with that being said, let's get this thing started, shall we?

Author's note: I do not own Sword Art Online or it's characters. No copyright infringement whatsoever. I only own the OC characters created for this story.

* * *

Chapter 1: Welcome to Sword Art Online

**Date: November 6th, 2022. 9:00 A.M. JST. Akihabara, Tokyo.**

The sun had just cracked above the many building surrounding Akihabara. Cars zoomed by through the crowded urban streets as people went about their daily lives: adults walking to work, children laughing as they scurried to school and many others lingering and mingling with each other in the many shops. Overall, it was a normal day. Well, almost normal. One could see a large line of people gathered across the sidewalk, stretching all across the block leading to a rather large electronics store. Among them were young adults standing and sitting tightly near each other, buzzing about something that, to other people, could not be easily understood. But to them, the news was universally praised. The release of what would be known as the "newest generation of online gaming." Many were clamoring for its release and were waiting patiently for the doors to open, ready to claim their copies of their prize for themselves. Near the entrance of the store were a few dozen tents, some large, some small, where several people were getting ready for the store to open its doors to the public. However, one tent in particular near the street corner was still closed up, with its occupants still inside.

"Ugh!" A young man groaned out as he poked his head out of his sleeping bag, his eyes refusing to open. One could see the long, dark-red hair that covered most of his forehead and cheeks, almost touching his shoulders in length. "Make it stop!" The young man could make out the sound of fabrics rustling across the tent through the sound of the alarm, until he felt the presence of another body a few inches away from him, the other person's head slowly approaching his ear.

"That would be you, Taisho-kun." He heard a voice playfully whisper to him, a female voice, waking him up more than the horrid noise, waking him from his slumber as she moved away from him and returned to her side.

"Come on." The young man groaned out as he rubbed his eyes. "It's too damn early for this." The young man reached his arm to the source of the sound, but missing with every grab, much like the claw machines he so desperately hated. "My head's throbbing."

"Well, if you could fall asleep last night instead of poking me every thirty minutes, you wouldn't have that problem." The young woman to his left chided after Taisho finally started to stir.

"I couldn't sleep. You know I hate waking up early." Taisho whined as he finally recovered the source of the blaring sound. "Hah, got it." He quickly flipped open his cell phone and with a few swift button clicks, he silenced the alarm on his phone. He proceeded to push his way out of his sleeping bag, allowing the young woman to see his burgundy t-shirt and jeans. His sneakers and backpack were kept at the foot of his sleeping bag, but remained untouched at the moment as he began to straighten out his clothes.

"How on earth is 9 a.m. early?" He heard the girl ask, but deep down she already knew the answer. "Better question is how do you wake yourself up for school?"

"I have two alarm clocks, ya know. I call the other one my sister-in-law." Taisho chuckled as he ran his hands through the messed up strands of his hair. "Besides, you're the one who wanted me so close last night." His sweatshirt flew towards his head as a reply to his comment, giving a drawn-out groan at the girl's actions with a pleased grin on his face.

"I don't know why I put up with you sometimes." He heard the young woman sigh as he put on the flung piece of clothing. "I still don't understand how I was able to spend three days out here waiting with you for the game."

"You gotta admit me being here with you does have its perks." Taisho chuckled as he finally got a good look at the girl in front of him. She wore a small dark green jacket that covered her petite figure, along with a cream-colored blouse worn over a long-sleeved, thin black shirt. She wore a pair of dark blue jeans with her brown boots sitting by her side. She was currently brushing her long black hair with a comb she fished out of her bag, turning around to catch him staring at her, which caused her to turn back to her hair quickly in embarrasement. She had an air about her that gave off a type of grace as she moved, her eyes looking back at him with a gleam of both her intelligence and playfulness behind them, captivating him. He could never understand how she looked so beautiful this early in the morning, but it was something he loved about her. "Right, Hiyono?"

"Well…" She pondered for a moment before turning to him with a playful smirk on her face, meeting his ocean blue eyes with her dark brown ones. "I will admit you are kinda cute. _Kinda_."

"Well, I still heard 'cute', so it still counts." Taisho replied with a grin on his face as he scooted closer to her. Hiyono put her brush down as she watched him, feeling her heart race little by little as Taisho inched towards her. Their faces grew closer and closer until their faces were no more than an inch apart. Taisho could feel Hiyono's breath tickle his lips until...

"GOOOOOD MORNING LOVEBIRDS!" A pair of voices yelled out from down the street, catching the attention of everyone in the line and snapping the two away from their intimate moment. Hiyono looked flustered as she quickly looked back and forth between the tent's entrance and her boyfriend while Taisho simply looked ticked.

"That can't be them already, can it?" Hiyono asked Taisho, who was now sitting cross-legged with his hands crossed, an unamused look on his face.

"Those idiots." Taisho grunted while shaking his head. After a moment passed, they both put on their sneakers and zipped open their tent to find the source of the sound. They peered outside the tent to the end of the line to see two teenagers around their age walking towards them. Their faces were nearly identical, leading many to believe that they were the same person. Both of them had honey-blonde hair and light-purple eyes, the young man's hair being cut short and neat while the girl's hair was longer, reaching to her shoulders and was slightly messier. The young man wore a tan jacket that was zipped up halfway, revealing the white button-up shirt and black t-shirt underneath with dark blue jeans and tan boots. The young woman at his side was wearing a similar outfit: a large tan jacket that went down to her knees that was barely buttoned up, revealing a teal halter-top that was worn over a tight, black t-shirt. She wore a short burgundy skirt with black leggings and tan boots. Both of them wore black gloves and around each of their necks was a pendent that looks like two halves of a yin-yang symbol, with a blue comma with a purple jewel in the young man's pendent and vise-versa for the young woman. Both of them had a beaming smile on their faces with a look in their eyes that both gave a window to their mischievous nature as they eyed their friends as they walked down the street holding hands, seeming to enjoy the simple act of walking down the street. To the others in the line, they thought the duo were a pair of weirdos. To Taisho and Hiyono, they were their weirdos.

"Hey guys, did you see us over there?" The young woman said as she stepped towards the couple, removing her hand from her other.

"Morning Shinji-kun, Shiori-chan." Hiyono happily greeted their friends.

"Oh goody. It's the Terror Twins." Taisho stated with a dumb little smirk, the sarcasm in his tone present to everyone. "And now my headache has turned into a migraine."

"Shinji-chan, did you hear that?!" Shiori asked over-dramatically, throwing her arms around her brother. "Taisho called us a migraine! He's so mean to us!"

"I feel your pain Shiori-chan!" Shinji followed suit with his sister, mock tears streaming down both of their faces. "And after all the trouble of bringing him and Hiyono breakfast after camping out for so long out of the kindness of our own hearts!"

"He's so hurtful!" The two bawled out. However, Taisho was more focused on the sound of breakfast. At the sound of that beautiful word, Taisho immediately perked up as he finally noticed the several bags hanging from the twins' hands.

"You guys got us breakfast?" Hiyono asked almost surprised.

"We knew you guys were getting your copies of the game today, so we got up early to get you breakfast from the bakery across the street." Shiori started as she brought her hands together close to her face.

"But we understand. Taisho hates waking up in the morning and turns into an inconsolable ass when he's up at this hour." Shinji added to his sister's comment, mirroring her movements

"Which makes it so hard for us when we try to say good morning to him."

"At the very high risk of being called migraines by one of our closest friends."

"So with that being said…"

"We'll be on our way." They said at the same time, turning around and ready to walk off into the street. However, they both immediately felt a hand on their shoulders, coming from their friend who now seemed very happy to see them.

"Migraine?!" Taisho immediately dragged both of them to his spot on the sidewalk and embraced them into an arm each, a happy grin plastered on his face. "Now why would I call two of my best friends in the world migraines? You should probably get your hearing checked."

"See Shiori-chan," Shinji said matter-of-factly. "Give a man food and he's putty in your hands. It's our one weakness." His grin then lowered in a thoughtful expression. "Well, one of two, but I'll tell you that part when you're older."

"Right Shinji-chan." Shiori happily chirped, but quickly glared at him with annoyed look in her eyes "Hey wait, we're both 14. How old do I have to be before you tell me that part?"

"Hmmm… I'm thinking 80 would be a perfect. Think of it as a future birthday present."

"Oh come on!" Shiori whined to her brother, wearing an adorable pout on her face. "You sound just like Dad! You never tell me that kind of stuff."

"That's because you're still a little naïve around people Shiori-chan." Shinji joked as he removed himself from Taisho's grip. "And you still run away from other people when I'm not there."

"Why do you always do that Shinji-chan?" Shiori immediately squirmed out of Taisho's grip and stared down her brother "I'll have you know I'm very good with talking to people. It's just that other boys scare me so lay off."

"If you ever get a boyfriend, I might just lay off. I'm trying to give you important advice you can use later."

"Hey guys?" Hiyono tried to grab the twins' attention.

"How about handing over the food you brought?" Taisho asked with an annoyed tone as he tried to reach for the bags of food in their hands.

"Well, maybe I don't need a boyfriend right now. Besides, I can get one whenever I want."

"Says the girl who's never even kissed a boy before."

"Well, you've never kissed a girl before so how can talk about how great it is?"

"You know I'm waiting for the right girl."

"If you guys don't keep your traps shut RIGHT NOW, I will take that bag of food, and shove somewhere you do not want it shoved!" Taisho stood up and faced the two who were keeping him from his meal.

"Actually Shiori-chan, I believe in some cultures, what Taisho suggested would be considered a type of foreplay."

"What's foreplay?"

"Would you guys SHUT UP?!" Hiyono stood and finally managed to yell out to her friends in a fury, leaving the three of them and several others on the street surprised and scared at the same time. Taisho and the twins looked at each other and then at Hiyono very quickly before nodding to each other, proceeding to sit back down in their spot. The group made sure to sit according to how the line was formed, with Taisho scooting back towards his girlfriend on the sidewalk. Shinji and Shiori sat some space away from the line to avoid being yelled at by any customers and passed several bags of pastries to the couple.

"Anyway…" Hiyono breathed in to calm herself before addressing her friends." "Has anyone seen Usui-san yet?" Hiyono asked the group as she rummaged the bag for something she liked. "He said that he was getting his copy of the game too, but he's isn't in this line."

"Not yet. I heard he was getting his copy of the game at another store." Shinji said as he pulled a blueberry muffin out of his bag and proceeded to take a bite out of it. "He did text me back saying that he would meet us online once he got the chance. Said he had to take care of something with his brother and sister before he could log on."

"That's Usui-kun for you." Shiori chimed in as she rummaged through her own bag. "Always busy with something."

"Well, hopefully he's staying out of trouble." Taisho murmured as he pulled out his prize: a large banana-nut muffin and immediately took a huge bite of it. "Guy's always had a habit of making a mess of things."

"And you don't?" Shiori quickly jabbed as she munched on her bagel, a small grin growing on her face. "I can't even count how many times you two have gotten caught by the principal for the havoc at school."

"Come on!" Taisho huffed as he took another bite of his muffin. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"I'm with Shiori-chan on this one Tai-kun." Hiyono turned to her boyfriend. "Usui-san may be the one who starts things, but you end up making them worse."

"How have I made Usui's 'incidents' worse?" Taisho felt somewhat hurt at the accusation. "I'm usually the one sent to reel him back in. Name one time."

"The Drama Club's production of 'Romeo and Juliet.'" Hiyono simply stated as she took a bite of her chocolate-chip muffin. Taisho looked dumbfounded for a moment as he recalled the memories of the ruined play. The entire stage and set was destroyed and several actors were hurt, the production was ruined by both Taisho and Usui's hands. Taisho immediately cleared his throat before straightening himself out.

"In my defense, the girl playing Juliet went on a rampage after Usui hit on her." Taisho tried to deflect the blame on his absent friend, quickly scarfing down the rest of his muffin.

"And you made it worse by telling her that her boyfriend was hitting on someone else, who happened to be the guy playing Romeo." Shiori added to Taisho's statement, with Taisho feeling the need to breathe in slowly to suppress his annoyance.

"How was I supposed to know that she would just go off right there on stage?"

"It's not every day Romeo and Juliet ends with Juliet putting her lover in an arm bar." Hiyono didn't even try to hide her giggle, resulting in a small vein popping out of Taisho's forehead as he started to growl.

"So what will you do for the Christmas play?" Shinji smiled a wicked little smile. "Tell the elves that Santa's running a sweatshop and stage a revolt? 'No more toys! Free the elves!'"

And with that, the girls' next sight was Taisho placing Shinji's neck in a headlock. The other people in the line watched as Shinji's face turned as blue as Taisho's sweatshirt as Shinji flailed around, trying his hardest to breathe. The girls merely watched Shinji being throttled, trying her hardest not she faced the unfortunate fate of being pushed by the two guys, resulting in her chocolate-chip muffin being flung into the nearest person. The target: a young man who seemed to be several years older than the four of them and much taller. He had short, spiky brown hair that seemed to have a red tint to it, being kept up by his red bandana tied around his forehead. He had a scruffy looking face, his chin showing a thin amount of facial hair and his thin brown eyebrows covered by his bandana. He wore a dark red sweatshirt with dark-blue jeans, and white sneakers with black on the bottom and soles of the shoes. His soft, pale-green eyes were carefully examining his left side just below his chest, noticing the crumbs and chocolate stains on his jacket. The four looked at him with fear in their eyes as Taisho released his hold on Shinji. Hiyono was the first to try to defuse the situation as she inched up towards him.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." Hiyono quickly bowed to the man as he inspected the stain on his jacket. She had expected the man to be angry with her and her friends, especially her since it was her muffin that hit him. However, he merely brushed it off like nothing happened.

"Ah, don't worry about it. Comes out in the wash, right?" The young man laughed as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and started to wipe off the crumbs and chocolate. Seeing that he wasn't mad, Hiyono sighed easily before turning to her boyfriend and the male twin, anger in her eyes.

"Both of you apologize now!" Hiyono barked out as she stared the two boys down. The two looked at her and then each other, silently understanding the consequences of failing to apologize to the guy.

"Sorry." Taisho and Shinji said almost simultaneously as they hung their heads slightly.

"It's all good." The young man grinned as he finished cleaning up as much of the stain as he could. He stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket before turning to the group. "Don't worry, I know the feeling. Standing in line for days for a game would make anyone a little stir-crazy."

"Yeah, well Taisho never really learned how to play well with others." Shinji chuckled as the air started to fill his lungs again.

"Hence your head turning into an oversized blueberry." Taisho ribbed at his friend, poking the side of Shinji's head with two fingers before Shinji swatted them away, earning a chuckle from the group. Taisho turned to their elder before his grin grew. "Yeah, this is pretty much normal for us. It's a shame Usui isn't here, then things would definitely get interesting… And who exactly are you?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. My name's Tsuboi Ryutarou." The elder man introduced himself as he pointed to himself with his thumb. "It's a pleasure to meet you guys."

"My name's Sasaki Hiyono." Hiyono introduced herself with a polite smile.

"I'm Takamachi Shinji." Shinji introduced himself with a wave.

"And I'm Takamachi Shiori." Shiori added, with a happier ring in her voice.

"Name's Taisho." Taisho coolly gave his name. "Ayahara Taisho." Hiyono waved to Shiori to pass the remaining bags of pastries to her, to which Shiori happily complied.

"Oh, did you want some?" Hiyono offered the bag to Ryutarou. "We still have plenty left."

"Sure, thank you." Ryutarou accepted as he reached into the bag, pulling out a bagel as red slightly brushed across his cheeks. The group, along with their new acquaintance, began to talk about many subjects as Taisho and Hiyono began to take apart their tent and roll it back into its portable form, placing it right beside their bags. It wasn't until people in the line started stirring that Ryutarou began to get excited, the five of them standing up to start walking.

"Oh man. It's almost time for the doors to open." Ryutarou buzzed as he noticed the others in the line beginning to stand. "Just a few more minutes. I can't freaking wait!"

"I know, right?" Hiyono started to bounce as Taisho tried his best to calm her down. "I've been waiting for this one for months."

"Yeah, that's all you've been talking about for weeks now." Taisho said matter-of-factly as he held his girl by her arms. "Remind me what makes this game so much different from your other 'favorites'."

"You can't blame me for being excited Tai-kun." Hiyono looked at her boyfriend like he was crazy. "Sword Art Online is the first VRMMORPG created specifically for the NerveGear created by ARGUS and its head game designer, Kayaba Akihiko. It's graphics design and the NerveGear's FullDive technology allows the player to literally play the game as if you were playing it in real life. Almost limitless weapon classes and skills are available to the players, virtually allowing you to make any type of character that you want. And with the thousands of hours of playable content available right at the start, it's the NerveGear's magnum opus!" The group stared at her as though she was about to blow a fuse, considering that her face was beaming with excitement and her whole body was starting to shake again. Taisho and the twins were looking at her as if it was par for the course while Ryutarou stood stunned. Taisho walked towards the elder and waved his hand in front of his face, to which the elder gave no reaction.

"Uh, Hiyono-chan?" Shinji poked her cheek playfully. "I think you broke him."

"Wow." Ryutarou finally managed to breathe. "A gamer and damn cute. I think I'm in love."

"Yeah," Taisho was almost as speechless as his new acquaintance. "And she's an awesome kisser too, dude." Taisho smile then turned to a little smirk. "Too bad she's taken." He then patted the elder's back forcefully a couple of times to drive his point home as he walked towards Hiyono and reached out for her hand. Hiyono squeezed his hand back with a smile on her face, leaving Ryutarou to put the pieces together. He sighed heavily as he saw the couple but quickly recovered as he attempted to change the subject.

"So I take it you guys are big gamers?" Ryutarou asked the group as he quickly plastered on a smile.

"Yep." Hiyono answered first as she started her stroll down memory lane. "I got into RPGs and games like that from my cousin when I was 8 and I just couldn't stop. I still remember all the times I dragged Taisho with me to shops to pick up the newest game."

"Because fighting off a bunch of big smelly dudes to pick up a game at 10 in the morning just _screams_ romance." Taisho smirked as he looked at his girlfriend. She quickly turned to him with an annoyed look on her face, her cheeks burning bright red in embarrassment.

"One time!" Hiyono raised a finger at him to drive her point home. "And it wasn't that many people."

"Well Hiyono-chan, I didn't want to say anything, but-." Before Shinji could finish his poorly thought out statement, he noticed two glares on him. A murderous glare from Hiyono, who was patiently waiting for him to finish, the other came from Taisho, who was pleading with his eyes not to say anything else. Shinji quickly realized the consequences of what would happen if he were to continue his current train of thought, so he quickly turned back to Ryutarou and hoped for the best as he attempted to avoid Hiyono's wrath.

"But back to what you were asking before," Shinji jumped the conversation back on course, noticing that Hiyono was fuming a bit. "Shiori and I were actually chosen to be beta testers for the game." He pointed to himself and her sister who were both grinning from ear to ear. "We got a lot further than the other players, thanks to our _amazing_ teamwork and skill."

"And we loved the game so much that we decided to buy it for real." Shiori finished her brother's thought. "Since we were beta testers, we got the chance to preorder the game."

"Seriously?!" Ryutarou asked with a surprised tone, stunned to be standing in the presence of people who have played the game before. "And you guys were beating it?"

"Yeah, but a couple of guys managed to get farther than us." Shiori added as her grin dropped. "We only made it to the 8th floor while this one guy made it to the 10th. We never really got to talk to him much. Kinda that 'lone wolf' kind of guy, ya know?"

"And another made it to the 9th before he just vanished." Shinji finished their train of thought. "I wonder whatever happened to the guy."

"Who knows?" Shiori answered him. "But I would have liked to meet the two of them." They both sighed as they recalled their adventures in the game, starting to get lost in their own little world as the rest of the group looked at them with confusion.

"What about you, Taisho-san?" Ryutarou asked curiously. "I haven't really heard you jumping for joy about the game."

"Yeah, because one look at me and anyone would think I'm the 'jumping for joy' type." Taisho laughed to himself as he flicked a stray strand of hair from his face, starting to feel nervous.

"Come on man!" Ryutarou slapped Taisho's back. "You're telling me you're not excited for this? You waited in line all this time for your copy. That's half the fun of the game, the anticipation leading to the game!" The others could see that Taisho was fidgeting a bit as he strained to say what was on his mind.

"W-well I wouldn't know." Taisho finally admitted as he looked away in embarrassment. "I've never played something like this before."

"Really?" Ryutarou looked at him incredulously. "Then what exactly have you played before?" Taisho hesitated to answer him, leading Ryutarou to raise his eyes in disbelief. "Wait… don't tell me this is the first game you've ever played?"

"I know. It's horrible that Taisho never played a big game like this before." Shiori rushed to Taisho's side and placed her head on her shoulder.

"Such as sad and dreary life our Taisho's lived, huh Shiori-chan?" Shinji copied her sister's moves on Taisho's other shoulder, much to his dismay. The twins looked to their friend to see him steaming before pushing them both off him.

"I _have_ played video games before, just not as much as these three." Taisho motioned his head to the rest of the group, who gave him a knowing look. "The only games I've ever played are just those one's that let you shoot guys." Taisho rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Like the one with all the different aliens and the robots that are trying to wipe out the galaxy or something." He recalled his fond memories of banging on the controller as he would attempt to shoot down droves of robots and mercenaries. He failed to mention to Ryutarou that he would _attempt_ to shoot them, and would always die not long after. But what he didn't know wouldn't hurt them. He did notice the looks his friends were giving him, all eying him knowing how bad he was at video games. He quickly ignored them and focused on the conversation. "My brother gave me his old games from like 10 years ago back when he was studying in America. To be honest, I'm just more into music than video games."

"Just _into_ music?" Hiyono asked with a scoff. "His whole room's filled up with CD's and music books from America. The shelves barely have any room for all the stuff he's got. The only barely noticeable thing in his room is his bed."

"He's kinda obsessed when you look at it." Shiori stated offhandedly. "It's hard to get him to talk about much else. We actually worry about his sometimes."

"I'm not obsessed." Taisho defended himself. "I just happen to like music."

"To the point you spend all your money on imported CD's." Shinji grinned. Taisho grunted as he stood by his comment.

"I _really_ like music." Taisho defended himself.

"So if you're not all that into video games, why are you out here waiting in line for one?" Ryutarou asked, trying to understand why he would go so far for something he was barely interested in.

"Well…" Taisho started as he pointed towards his girlfriend. "Ask her." Hiyono stood there blushing from embarrassment as an awkward smile grew on her face.

"Well I heard about the game a while back and when the lines for the games started to form, I rushed out and found the nearest store that wasn't too crowded." Hiyono spun the tale to the group before gripping Taisho's hand again. "I even forced him to come with me before it was too late. I was hoping my _supposed_ boyfriend would want to play the game with me." Hiyono looked at him with an adorable look which made Taisho turn away towards Ryutarou.

"You see what I mean?" Taisho smirked with Ryutarou following suit. "I have a very hard time saying 'no' to that." Before the twins could interject with one of their opinions, the group could hear the murmurings of the crowd grow louder as they began to shuffle about, getting ready to move ahead. To the group, that could only mean one thing.

"Hey guys! The line's moving up." Ryutarou called out to the others. "Let's go!"

The line started to move as Taisho and Hiyono grabbed their gear, with Ryutarou leading them. Shinji and Shiori stepped away from the group and decided to walk towards the front of the store to wait for their friends to get what they were looking for. The trio waded through the store, pushing through the many patrons and eventually made their way to the front of the line, all ordering the same thing: a NerveGear system helmet and a copy of their prize: Sword Art Online. Thirty minutes passed for the twins until they saw their friends exit the store, with all three of them holding their helmets and games. Ryutarou found himself being part of a group picture alongside other proud owners of the game, while the group ended up walking outside the crowd that formed.

"I can't believe we managed to get a copy!" Hiyono squealed as she raced towards the twins, with Shiori squealing right along with her. "This is going to be amazing!"

"For how much all this stuff costs, it better be." Taisho feigned annoyance before looking at his new gear with a grin. "Well, we managed to survive and grab our stuff. Wanna head back home and log in?"

"Sounds good." The others cheered. Taisho turned around to see Ryutarou finally finishing up the picture with the other gamers. "Hey, Ryutarou!" Taisho called out to their new acquaintance. "We'll see you in the game! Just don't take too long trying to find us!" Ryutarou stood up and ran towards his new friends before stopping right at their feet.

"Klein." Ryutarou pointed to himself as a grin grew on his face. "When you guys log in, look for Klein. I'll be the guy kicking every monster's ass the second I get there."

"I hate to break it to you _Klein_." Taisho smirked before continuing. "But you're not the only one whose gonna be kicking everyone's asses." The two smirked at each other before Ryutarou extended a fist to Taisho. Taisho replied with meeting Ryutarou's fist with his own.

"Alright Tai-kun." Hiyono said before pulling on her boyfriend's sleeve. "Let's head back. I'm sure your brother and sister are worried." The couple started to walk in the direction of the train station as the twins followed suit, turning back to see their friend

"It was nice meeting you Ryutarou-san." The twins said almost simultaneously as the group waved towards him, the twins waving harder than the couple.

"Same here guys!" Ryutarou waved back. "See you in the game!"

The group proceeded to head towards the train station, catching the train that headed back to Kawaguchi. As they headed back towards their neighborhood, they talked about various things: from school to friends to what was happening in their own lives, all without a care in the world. The train finally stopped at their destination, allowing the group to get off and walk towards their neighborhood. Thirty minutes passed as the group neared the twins' house, the twins waving goodbye to their friends with the promise to meet later in the game. The couple waved back and watched their friends race into their house, leaving them alone once again. The couple started walking back towards Hiyono's house nearing the more urban area of Kawaguchi. The two continued to talk and joke around with each other until one particular topic came up.

"Yes, I know Hiyono." Taisho sighed as he heard her hum out in anticipation. "You'll be 15 in a few days. I haven't forgotten."

"I know. I can't wait!" Hiyono bounced a bit as she strolled down the street. "So what's your plan for us for my birthday?"

"No spoilers." Taisho grinned at his girl. "But don't worry, I got it planned out." Taisho then turned to meet Hiyono's eyes. "But what do you want for your gift from me? I don't think you ever said." Hiyono's eyes gleamed as a small smile grew on her face, leading Taisho to eye her cautiously.

"Well…" Hiyono started as she turned to her boyfriend. "For my birthday present, I want you to sing to me." Taisho stood surprised at the mention of him singing. He quickly shook his head to snap him out of his stupor before looking towards the street.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Taisho chuckled, earning a blow from Hiyono's elbow on his arm.

"Can't you break your rule _just_ this once?" Hiyono pleaded to him

"You know I don't like singing."

"But you're really good. You have an amazing voice."

"Can't I just play you something instead?"

"Of course you can, Tai-kun. You can play the piano as you sing, how's that?"

"Of course." Taisho hung his head as he groaned out. "Come on Hiyono. I really don't want to sing."

"Even if you're girlfriend's asking you?" Hiyono turned to him as she summoned the cutest look on her face she could muster. "Don't you love me?"

"You know that doesn't work on me…"

"Taisho-kun, please?" Hiyono looked at him pleadingly, truly wanting him to sing to her. Taisho saw this and felt himself submit.

"I'll… I'll think about it, okay?" Taisho mumbled, to which Hiyono squeezed him hand happily. Taisho always had difficulty agreeing to sing in front of people, even to those closest to him, so she wasn't expecting him to actually agree. Despite his sarcastic nature, she knew he was stubborn about some things, but was willing to bend it for her sake. And to Hiyono, that was enough for now, but made a note to prod him more about it. _After_ playing Sword Art Online for a while. It wasn't long before they finally reached Hiyono's house: a moderate two-story building. She walked ahead of him, letting go of his hand before looking him dead in the eye.

"Alright. I'll see you online at 1." Hiyono told him, her brain running a mile a minute. "Look for Lilith, and don't be late! I'll be waiting at the meeting point Shinji-kun and Shiori-chan told us about, okay?"

"Okay, I got it." Taisho answered with a laugh before Hiyono walked closer to him. Taisho noticed the blush on her face as she came closer as she bashfully looked at him, which he thought was adorable.

"Thanks for staying with me for this Taisho-kun." Hiyono told him softly before standing up on her tip-toes and quickly pecking him on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too, Hiyono-chan." Taisho answered her with another soft peck on the lips. Hiyono turned away from him and walked calmly to her door, waving goodbye to him as he waved back. She walked through her door, leaving Taisho alone with his game and his thoughts.

_The things I do for that girl._ Taisho thought fondly to himself. _Well, time to head back I guess. No doubt Misao and Bro will be pissed._ The last part made him chuckle as he walked towards his own home, which was a short distance away in the more urban areas of Kawaguchi. After 20 minutes, he reached his destination: a one-story shop seated in the middle of two large office buildings. On the medium sized sign in front of the roof was a description written in kanji: "Ayahara Flowers." The shop was painted white with a black shingle roof, giving the appearance of a suburban shop, matching the scheme of the two-story building connected behind it. He walked into the shop's front door and noticed the interior: wooden floors with faded-white walls all surrounded by vases filled with flowers and many adornments and bouquets. Taisho noticed the backroom leading into the cooler where the inventory was kept as well as many different glass-paneled rooms where the more exotic flowers were kept. The many different scents coming from the flowers tickled his nose, even after all the years he had been here. At the back wall of the shop was a large, wooden counter with a cash register and a computer, with a door behind it leading into the next building. Taisho walked towards the door right behind the counter and reached into his pocket while balancing the box and game in his free arm, pulling out a set of keys and grabbing one from the ring. He placed the key into the lock and open the door into the next building. When he made his way through the door, he immediately saw a set of stairs leading to the second floor, with a hallway leading to the various rooms of the house, all painted a soft yellow. Taisho heard the sound of water running coming from his left and decided to follow the sound into the kitchen, having a good idea who it was coming from.

"Hey Bro! Misao! You here?" Taisho called out to someone in the house, only to be greeted with a sarcastic reply.

"About time you got home." A raised whisper was heard. "I was about to send out a search party." Taisho turned towards the sink to see the source of the reply: a slender, attractive woman who seemed to be in her mid-to-late twenties washing several dishes in the sink. The woman had thick, shoulder-length violet hair that was tied into a pony-tail, which caressed her white sleeveless blouse, the neckline cut just low enough to show off a sample of her cleavage, even with the black halter top underneath the blouse covering most of it. She wore a denim skirt that reached more than halfway down her well-toned thighs and ankle cut black socks. Her curvy and well-toned upper body was covered by a sky-blue apron, with splashes of water and pollen clumped across it. What was most noticeable to Taisho was the bright silver band on the left side of the sink, presumably hers. Taisho could never understand how his brother got a babe like her to marry him, but it was a mystery that always eluded him. She turned away from the dishes to see the young man in the kitchen holding his game and controller, her gentle gray eyes looking at him with a mixture of amusement and annoyance, a look that Taisho knew would lead to nothing but trouble for him.

"Hey Sis." Taisho laughed as he walked towards the nearby table and set his controller and game down on the table. "Been waiting long?"

"I didn't even know you were gone." Misao said bitingly, causing even Taisho to cringe. He knew that when it came to sarcasm, she was still the queen of the house. It wasn't long before her eyes narrowed and she began to go into a lecture, with Taisho mentally steeling himself for his incoming punishment. "I don't believe you Taisho." Misao began with a sharp tone. "Camping out in Akihabara for three days with your girlfriend, for some videogame. Do you have any idea how much your brother and I were worried about you. I know you called us from time to time, but still." She turned her head back towards the dishes as she grunted. "I swear, the things that go through your mind." Taisho could hear the concern for him slip through the ass-chewing, but he couldn't resist the opportunity given to him.

"Hey wait, what about the time you stood in line for a week for those concert tickets for that band from America, and Bro barely heard from you?" Taisho stated matter-of-factly to the woman, an amused look on his face growing by the second.

"…That was different." Misao replied with a false conviction, suddenly focusing on the grime on the pot like it was the most interesting thing in the room.

"Suuuure it was." Taisho's voice rang with an amused tone as his grin grew, remembering hearing his brother rant to him over the phone about his absent wife, constantly worrying about her and annoying his younger brother to no end.

"Don't forget that I brought you a signed copy of their new album out of kindness." Misao retorted with a grin of her own.

"Fair enough." Taisho shrugged as he went back towards the table to grab his game and NerveGear.

"So how was it?" Misao asked her brother-in-law, not turning away from the dishes. "Camping out for something that you wanted for a change."

"Shinji and Shiori are still the masters of bad timing." Taisho laughed to himself, remembering the mishap that came from earlier. "My back is stiff and my legs feel like they're about to fall off." Taisho stopped before his tone fell soft. "But... it was nice."

"Well, I'm glad you had fun out there." Misao told him, showing him a small smile. "Just be sure to call more, okay? We get worried about you, you little brat."

"Yes, ma'am" Taisho grinned back as he scooped up his controller and game and turned towards the entrance he came from.

"So are you going up to play now?" Misao asked her brother-in-law as he walked towards the steps.

"Yeah. If I don't Hiyono's gonna go crazy about it later and my ass'll be on the chopping block." Taisho laughed. "Did you need any help in the shop today?"

"No, not today. Megumi-chan will be showing up in a little while to work her shift. We'll be fine for today." Misao smiled as Taisho stopped just outside the kitchen entrance. "Just don't wake up Kyohei-san. He had a hard night last night."

"Yeah, wasn't there some big pileup on the highway?"

"He was stuck working in the trauma ward all night without a break. He showed up this morning completely exhausted. He's been sleeping since 7 a.m. At least he has a day off today." Misao's voice sounded worried for her husband. Taisho felt her concern over his brother and turned to her with a grin.

"I'll be as quiet as a mouse." Taisho replied understandingly and proceeded to walk towards his room.

"Don't forget, dinner's at 7." That was the last thing Taisho heard his sister-in-law say as he walked up the stairs towards his room, making absolute sure not to wake his brother, who was sleeping in the room across the hall. He made his way into his room and closed the door quietly behind him, making his way to his bed and placed the game and NerveGear on his bed, dropping his bag and the tent gently onto the floor. Looking around his room, he admitted to himself that perhaps the twins and Hiyono may have had a point. His bookshelves were covered instead with CD's and DVDs consisting of many bands, many coming from America and a few from his home country, with many bookshelves surrounding the white walls of his room. In the corner of his room, he noticed a red, glossy electric guitar sitting on a stand next to an amplifier. On top of the amplifier were many guitar instruction books and picks. In the corner next to the bed was a moderate-sized television set with a black box hooked into it, with a controller sitting on top of the television. He looked at the box with the NerveGear and opened it, revealing the controller he had bought with his hard-earned cash: a large metallic colored helmet with a black visor. Despite his feigned apathy, he was anxious to enter this so-called "virtual world" and see what all the talk was about. However, Taisho was faced with one very insurmountable problem, one he never thought he'd go through.

"Okay, now how do you work this thing?" Taisho scratched his head as he stared at the alien device. "It can't be that hard." He placed the helmet on his head and waited for a few moments for something to happen. Seconds turned into minutes as nothing occurred, causing Taisho to get annoyed at the lack of action. "On!" Taisho called out to no one in particular, hoping the NerveGear would respond. It didn't. "Start! Activate! Run! Work you miserable piece of s-!" Taisho stopped himself before he yelled, hoping his brother wouldn't wake up. A few moments passed and the room was still silent, much to Taisho's relief. However, he immediately turned his attention back to the device on his head. Having no idea what to do with the high-tech paperweight sitting on his head, he resorted to a solution he absolutely dreaded.

"Alright, where are the directions to this thing?" Taisho grabbed the box and fished for the instructions for it, opening them and reading to find the solution to be able to play the game. Many terms in the book were foreign to him, "reboot" and "calibration" being some of them. Taisho took a few moments to follow the instructions, touching his body in several places such as his arms, legs and chest in order to "calibrate" the NerveGear to his body, which to Taisho was just plain weird. He then proceeded to open the box containing his copy of the game, which was merely a small cartridge compared to the discs he was more used to playing. He then proceeded to open a panel in the helmet where the game went and pushed the game into the NerveGear. At last, he reached the final and simplest step. He placed the box on the floor and the game case on his nightstand, flicking the switch on the back of the helmet on and waiting for it to boot up. He laid himself on the bed with his head on the pillow and his arms at his side. He felt excited as he uttered the one line that would unknowingly change his life.

"Link Start!"

And with that he felt his own body go numb as he felt his brain light up from the sudden rush of information coming from his NerveGear. Taisho found himself in a world purely of black before a large light was turned on, his eyes now gazing upon a fluorescent white room. Taisho looked down at his "body" to see it covered in white, with only his face and hair untouched by it. He didn't have time to feel uncomfortable as hundreds of data screens zoomed towards his eyes as until he was staring at a simple translucent gray screen. After a few seconds a large screen appeared before him, with a simple command.

"Please create and customize your Avatar."

Taisho saw many prompts on the screen along with a human figure covered in a white light. Many of the prompts gave many different descriptions such as "Face," "Hair," "Gender," "Body," and many others. Taisho felt overwhelmed as he was trying to decide how to apparently "customize" himself. He spent much time cycling through the many options, comparing face types and hair styles and colors until he decided on a look that he liked. Many different confirmation screens popped up one after another, asking if Taisho was sure about if he wanted this character as his "Avatar," whatever that was. Taisho clicked "yes" on the prompts one after another until one last prompt popped up on to the screen with a virtual keyboard under it.

"Please enter your Avatar's name."

Taisho took a moment to think of a name for his new character, trying his hardest to think of something original, but not something that sounded stupid. He racked his brain for what he thought was ten minutes until an idea popped into his head. Something from a video game that he played a long time ago. He didn't know why he picked it or where the name came from all of a sudden, but he liked it, and to him that was all that mattered. He typed the name he wanted on the keyboard and pressed the enter key. The keyboard disappeared before one last prompt showed itself to Taisho.

"Welcome Coswell, to Sword Art Online."

A massive light flooded Taisho's vision as he felt his mind wash away with the rest of his body. A moment passed before he opened his eyes and took in his new surroundings. And to him, the world around him was vastly different from the world he just left. He found himself in a massive stone-covered courtyard next to a fountain, staring at a brilliant sky, the cold from the wind brushing across his exposed skin as he noticed all the people coming into the world through blue waves of light. He looked into the fountain to see that his face and clothes were vastly different. Gone was the 15 year-old boy with the long, thick red hair. Staring back at him was a handsome man with messy black hair with a small ponytail tied down low by a small white bandage, his blue eyes replaced by crimson red ones, a confident and intimidating presence staring back at him. He noticed his sweatshirt and jeans were replaced by a long-sleeved tan tunic with brown cloth adorning the shoulders and cuffs, with black cloth pants and brown shoes instead of his sneakers. He looked around the courtyard and tried his hardest to take every detail in, believing for a moment that this was way too real, too amazing to be a virtual world. The excitement overwhelmed him for a moment before he said one thing with a stupid little grin on his face.

"Yeah, this'll work."

_Fin_


End file.
